I was born in Portage, Utah , on 5 July 1897.  I was the daughter of Thomas Marshall Tims and Sarah Jane Howell Tims.  My parents were good people.  They lived in a two room log house.  My mother passed away when I was just two years old.  I can remember her lying on her bed, her long black hair , which she wore braided, hung over each shoulder. 

I remember when I was quite young, I had typhoid fever.  When I had recovered, my father had to cut my hair off because it had become so tangled they couldn’t comb it.  They nicknamed me “Cottontop”  because my hair was so short and blonde. 

I remember riding in a covered wagon.  On one occasion I can remember tipping over on our way to visit with friends.  I remember my father playing for dances with his accordion.  He would play with the accordion lying on the back of his partner.  They had many wonderful times. 

When I was eight years old my father died.  I was very lonesome.  We had been so close and were such good pals.  He would sometimes carry me on his shoulders.  He always took such good  care of us.  After his death, I went from one place to another to stay.  I stayed a while at Aunt Volates in Plymouth.  While I was there, I had rheumatism.  I was so ill, they had to turn me with sheets for a month or so.  When I recovered I stayed with Grandmother Tims.  I wasn’t quite ten when my sister Nancy took me.  I remember how I cried, because I hated to leave. 

At this time I was in the fourth grade.  That fall I went into the fifth grade.  I got along fine until just before school was out, my teacher called me to stay in.  I had seen her look at the records that day, and I thought, “ Here is where she puts me back”.  But instead, she said, “You should have been in the fourth grade, because of sickness”.  I told her “Yes”.  She told me to keep studying as I had and I could make it. 

While staying at Grandmother Tims’ I would herd cows, milk them.  I mowed, stacked, and raked hay.  I plowed and helped fix fence.  I didn’t do much house work, because at that time Grandmother was a widow and didn’t have much housework to do. 

I had two or three boy friends, but the one I liked most became my husband.  I remember how nice his mother was to my brother, sister, and me.  She helped nurse us through measles, mumps, and whooping cough. 

I remember how thrilled I was when Edgar asked me for my first date.  We started going together on May 16, 1913.  We became engaged on 4 May 1914.  We were married 4 May 1915 in Malad City, Idaho.  We were very happy.  We had nine children.  Our fist, a little girl, Elma Theo.  At the time of her birth we were staying at Edgar’s sister Annis’s home.  When Elma was six months old, we bought our first home- a one room log house.  I was very happy to have my own home.   

I took care of my brother’s two children, Hyrum Thomas Tims and Sarah Jane Tims, for nearly two years.  During this time we had a total of four children with our own two.  They were nearly all the same age, but I enjoyed it.   

We moved to Garland in 1919, stayed for a while, then moved back to East Portage.  In 1920, we moved back to Garland.  We thought things were going good when we moved to Garland, but that summer I had typhoid fever again.  When I recovered I had to be operated on for appendicitis.  While at the Merrill Hospital I had ether pneumonia.  I was very ill.  After this, things went good for us.  Our second son was born in 1922.  While in the hospital, I lost my voice, eyesight and hearing.  It came back and the doctor let me go home.  I was just home for two days when I became paralyzed on my left side.  I returned to the hospital where I remained for nearly two months.  My husband called in the elders.  They administered to me.  Through our faith and the blessings of our Father in heaven, I was made well.  I remember when I was ill, I walked up a very beautiful path with flowers and grass on each side.  As I started up the path, I was given instructions not to touch any of the flowers.  I knew I must be in heaven because the flowers were so beautiful.  When I was well enough to walk, the nurses helped me to learn how to walk again by holding my legs and pushing one ahead of the other. 

Both Edgar and I had many operations and many serious illnesses.  Each time through the blessings of our Father in Heaven and our faith and prayers of our family, we were made well.  Also, many of our children were also blessed and healed through the power of the priesthood.  

War came in 1941, and our son Dale, who was a member of the National Guard, left for active duty.  Dale was sent to the Hawaiian Islands, where he was stationed for quite a while.  When Thomas went to training camp in 1942, I could hardly stand it.  I thought of the other mothers and fathers whose sons were also leaving for war and it gave me strength to go on. 

By 1954 all of our children were married.  They were making homes of their own.We were very happy for our children, but we still worry about them and their problems. 

At the time of this writing, January 17, 1963, many things have changed from the time of my childhood.  Entertainment, recreation, our source of food supply and the abundance of it, transportation.  All of these things have changed greatly.  For our entertainment, as a child and young girl, we would go to dances once a week, or if we could save the money, we would go to a play.  For recreation we would go horseback riding, go on picnics with a horse and buggy, or just go for walks.  We had no coal stoves or refrigerators when I was a child.  We had no television, no radios, or cars.  We enjoyed the conveniences that we had, like the galvanized bathtub, which was used by  the whole family to bathe in. 

My first washing machine was purchased when Guenna was a baby.  It was an apparatus with two bowls and suction tubes.  It took longer to wash with this machine, so I went back to scrubbing on the board.  My first electric washer was purchased just after Thomas was born.  It cost $125.00 and was made of wood.  When we moved into our present home, we bought a second hand washer.  In 1955, we bought our first automatic washer.  Later in 1962, we bought a new machine.  

When as a child, and as I raised our family, we slept on straw ticks.  Now we have comfortable spring filled mattresses.  I remember taking the feathers from an old feather bed that had belonged to my father and making many pillows from it. 

At the time of this writing, we have enjoyed many automobile trips to various parts of the country.  We have television sets to entertain us at home, radios, newspapers, cars, telephone, electric stoves, water heaters, refrigerators, freezers, and many other things to make our lives more comfortable. 

Through the last years of our lives, both Edgar and I have had many serious illnesses.  We later went to live with our daughter Elma.  At the time of Edgar’s death, he was living at the Golden Manor rest home in Ogden.  He died 7 April 1967.  Just prior to this he was ordained an Elder in the LDS Church.  On 3 April 1967, he and I were privileged to go to the Logan Temple to receive our endowments and be sealed for time and all Eternity.  Our six children were also sealed to us.  This was a great time of rejoicing. 

In July 1967, I moved to my youngest daughter’s home in Smithfield.  At the present time- 1968, I am still living with Lila in Smithfield.